Diane Dreher

According to psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihaly, "our future is now closely tied to human creativity"[1]  I'd like to share the vital difference between being creative and being reactive.

 

Being Reactive

We react a perceived threat with fight, flight or freeze.

In emergencies this reaction serves us well. We jump out of the way of a speeding car.

But when stress becomes chronic, we get stuck in being reactive. Our attention narrows, our immune systems and digestive systems shut down, cortisol flows through our bodies, leading to increased inflammation and the risk of serious disease. Chronic stress shuts down our higher brain centers—blocking our ability to create, to see new possibilities.[2] We become anxious and defensive. We worry, we ruminate, but we do not create.

 

Being Creative—means moving from surviving to thriving.

Research in positive psychology shows us that positive emotions such as love, joy, and awe can broaden and build our personal resources, helping us live more creatively.

 

University of North Carolina researcher Barbara Fredrickson has found that positive emotions and personal connections strengthen our immune systems, broaden our perspective, and build our personal resources.[3] New York University researcher Jonathan Haidt has found that experiencing a sense of elevation in response to someone we admire connects us to our deepest values and inspires us to moral action.[4]

University of California researcher Dacher Keltner has found that experiencing the sense of awe—amazement and wonder at the beauty and grandeur of nature or a work of art—fills us with inspiration, widening our perspective, building our hope.[5]

 

We can experience positive emotions in nature, with the people around us, in great works of art, and reflecting on them with gratitude. The point is to have these experiences regularly. Like spiritual vitamins, positive emotions can help us become healthier, happier, and more creative.

 

So please join me in this brief meditation.

 

• Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and slowly release it.
• Again breathing in, and slowly breathing out.
• Once more breathing in, and slowly breathing out.
• Now take a moment to think of one thing you do that fills you with joy, that moves you from surviving to thriving.
• Just one experience that comes to mind.
• Is it connecting with someone you love? Feeling inspired by someone you admire? Feeling a sense of awe experiencing the beauty of nature?
• Take a long deep breath as you recall that experience now.

Then gently open your eyes.

 

I invite you to focus on that experience often

Whether actually enjoying it or reflecting on it with gratitude, this experience can inspire you to be even more creative in the days to come.

 

I wish you joy on the path.

 

[1] Csikszentmihaly, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York, NY: Harper & Row, p. 6.

 
[2] LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

 
[3]Fredrickson, B. (2013). Love 2.0: How our supreme emotion affects everything we feel, think, do, and become. New York, NY: Hudson Street Press; Fredrickson, B. & Joiner, T. (2002). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. Psychological Science, 13, 172-175. 

 

 
[4] Haidt, J. (2003). Elevation and the positive psychology of morality. In C. L. M Keyes & J. Haidt (Eds.). Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived (pp. 275-289). Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association; Keltner, D. & Haidt, J. (2003). Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 17, 297-314.

 
[5] Keltner, D. (2023). Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. NewYork, NY: Penguin Press.

 

Cutting through today's chronic stress, moments of beauty can bring us into the present moment, healing our minds and bodies, restoring our hope.

 

Among the many studies of beauty and healing, University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson found that a high appreciation of beauty helps people recover from anxiety and depression.[1] University of California, Berkeley, psychologist Dacher Keltner found that people who experience awe in response to nature's beauty have significantly lower levels of inflammation, reducing the risk of depression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses. In fact, he found that the more often we experience awe, the lower our inflammation levels.[2]

 

Psychologist Rhett Diessner's research has shown that engaging with beauty can increase our hope. Diessner and his colleagues at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho asked students to keep weekly beauty logs, writing brief descriptions of the beauty they observed in nature, art, and moral action. At the end of the semester, these students had gained significantly higher hope. [3]

 

Now it's your turn. Please join me for a brief meditation on these three forms of beauty.

• Close your eyes and take a deep mindful breath
• Feel your body gently relax as you slowly breathe in and breathe out.
• Now think of something beautiful you've experienced in nature—a radiant sunset, a walk in the woods, the scent of pines, a view of the ocean, a playful moment with your dog or cat, new life emerging in your garden, or another beautiful encounter with the natural world. Pause to re-experience that moment of beauty as you slowly breathe in and breathe out.
• Next think of something beautiful you've experienced in the arts—your favorite music, an inspiring choral concert, a live theater performance, a memorable film, a visit to an art gallery, gazing at classic sculptures or architecture, or another beautiful encounter with the arts. Pause to re-experience that moment of beauty as you slowly breathe in and breathe out.
• Now think of something beautiful you've experienced in the moral action of kindness—seeing one person reach out to help another, doing a favor, holding the door open for someone carrying packages, helping a child learn to read, rescuing a lost dog, calling a friend, a time you gave, received, or witnessed  a caring action. Pause to re-experience that moment of beauty as you slowly breathe in and breathe out.

 

Pause for a moment to breathe in as you experience the feelings these memories bring up. Then gently open your eyes.

 

As you go through your days, make it a point to notice the natural, artistic, and moral beauty around you, for as research reveals, gaining greater hope is possible by simply observing and appreciating such beauty.Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that "Each moment of the year has its own beauty."[4]

 

Each season, each day of our lives, has its own beauty as well. It is up to us to find it.

 

I wish you joy on the path.

 

 

 

[1] Peterson,C. Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2006). Great strengths of character and recovery from illness. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 17-26.

 
[2] Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D. (2015).Positive affect and markers of inflammation: Discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines. Emotion, 15, 129-133.

 
[3] Diessner, T., Rust, T., Solom, R. C., Frost, N., & Parsons, L. (2006). Beauty and hope: A moral beauty intervention. Journal of Moral Education, 35, 301-317.

 
[4] Emerson, R. W. (1903).Nature. In Nature: Addresses, and lectures, (pp. 3-77). Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Originally published 1876. Quote from p. 18.

 

We become one with Tao when we study nature and look within. These two practices are intrinsically linked, for our inner world reflects the world around us. We are one with nature. Its laws are our laws.

 

The Chinese character for nature or heaven adds two parallel lines to the character for person. In Chinese thought, we are part of nature, intimately connected to the sky over our heads and the earth beneath our feet. To ignore this bond or defile nature is to injure ourselves.

 

The basic building blocks of existence are not infinitesimal bits of matter as once was thought, but probabilities, dynamic patterns of energy, neither particles nor waves but something in between. By focusing on interdependent energy patterns, quantum physics offers a lesson for human interactions. Each of us is more than our ego-bound limits. We know this the moment we enter a room and sense its subtle vibrations. We breathe the same air, share the same energy with others around us. Their energy and attitudes inevitably touch our own. Life does not occur in isolation. We are all one in Tao.

 

Please join me in a brief meditation on oneness

 

• Take a deep breath and as you release it, close your eyes.
• Breathing in and Breathing out slowly and mindfully
• Breathing in
• Breathing out
• Realizing that as you breathe out carbon dioxide, this is what the trees breathe in
• As they breathe out oxygen, this is what you breathe in.
• Breathing in and Breathing out
• In dynamic oneness
• In harmony
• With nature
• Feel that sense of oneness

Then when you are ready, gently open your eyes.

 

I wish you the joy of oneness and connection with all that is.

 

 

 

 

The Tao Te Ching  tells us:

 

The Tao is infinite, expansive,

Always returning

In endless cycles,

Creating the Great Harmony.

                  (Tao, Chapter 65)

 

We are part of a universal pattern of growth which renews itself in cycles. Moving from day to night, spring to winter, active yang is inevitably followed by dormant yin, which gives birth to new yang.

 

The walls around you and the roof overhead—may appear solid, but are actually composed of billions of tiny particles whirling in cycles of incessant energy, tiny universes unto themselves, continuously evolving. Similarly, every cell in our bodies is constantly changing. We are not the same people we once were. Each year much of our body is renewed through metabolic change. The dance of life goes on within and around us. Nothing in the universe stands still.

 

The Tao teaches us to conquer our impatience, to work with the cycles. Our projects, like the seeds we plant, have different seasons. Some spring up quickly. Others take longer to germinate, even longer to bear fruit. All of the impatience in the world will not change the process.

 

You are a unique expression of  life. Your patterns are like no other's.

You can  explore your own patterns in this brief meditation

 

Close your eyes

Take a long deep breath and slowly release it

As you continue breathing slowly and deeply,

Breathing in

Breathing out

Let you mind flow freely

To explore the patterns of yang and yin—day and night, speaking and listening, action and rest in your own life.

 

Now think of one area in your work or personal life.

 

Ask yourself what you can do now to honor the natural rhythms of yin and yang in this area to create greater harmony in your life.

 

When you are ready, open your eyes

 

I wish you joy on the path. 

 

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us

 

"The Tao that has been charted is not the eternal Way.

A word we can define is not the eternal Word.

Wu, the eternal, existed before heaven and earth.

We know it as yu, the source of ten thousand things."

                                                 (Tao Te Ching, 1)

 

The Tao cannot be reduced to names and formulas. It is wu ming, without a name, because it's the source of all existence. In its infinite creative potential the Tao is wu, eternal non-being. In its created existence it is yu, eternal being. Eternally changing and evolving, it is neither one nor the other: always both. As quantum physics has revealed, all of creation is both existence and potential, particle and wave.

 

Like the Tao, we cannot be reduced to categories. Each of us exists in our current state of life and our infinite potential. We are both what we are and what we might be. Herein lies the strength of wu: our unlimited capacity for growth and change. Knowing at any moment we may begin a new cycle of creation, we can draw upon the power of wu in our lives. (26)

 

Take a few moments now to connect with the power of wu in your life.

 

Is there an area of your life where you have felt static or stuck?

Silently name it to yourself now.

 

Then join me in this brief meditation.

• Close your eyes.
• Take a deep mindful breath and slowly release it.
• As you slowly breathe in and breathe out,
• Visualize yourself standing by the ocean
• Watching the rhythm of the waves.
• Breathe in the salt sea air. Feel the ocean breeze upon your face.
• Now look up at the sky
• Watching the clouds overhead slowly changing shape.
• Feel nature's dynamic movement of creation.
• Now turn back to that area in your life you thought of earlier
• Feeling the power of the sea and sky
• Embracing the power of wu to begin a new creative cycle in your life.
• Then open your eyes,
• Ready to find the next step forward  as you move through your day.

 

I wish you joy on the path.

 

We live life on two parallel levels. First there's the Self or ego, our ordinary level of consciousness that can often feel insecure and strives for approval:

 

As the Tao Te Ching tells us:

 

"The more we succeed

In pleasing,

The more we fear

Not pleasing.

The more we're ensnared

In ego."

 

Then there's the Soul that transcends the confines of ego. As the Tao reminds us:

 

"When we value ourselves

As part of nature

And value nature

As ourselves,

We're at home

In the oneness

Of Tao."

                     ( Tao Te Ching, Chapter  13)

 

Life's two parallel levels are Self and Soul.

• On one level, our Self or ego often feels separate, anxious, threatened, sees life as competitive, spends lots of time planning,  worrying, and seeking approval.
• Yet on another level, our Soul feels connection, comfort, and cooperation, recognizes our oneness with God, nature, the universe, and sees other people as neighbors and potential allies. The Soul opens us up to inspiration and a new creative vision of life.

 

I invite you to take a few meditative moments now to reflect on this message.

 

Close your eyes and take three deep mindful breaths.

• Breathing in, Breathing out.
• Breathing in, Breathing out.
• Breathing in, Breathing out.

As you continue breathing slowly and deeply,

• Feel your shoulders relax, as you breathe out tension, breathe in peace.
• Then ask yourself, "Where and when have I felt a sense of oneness?" "A sense of Soul?"
• Was it responding to the beauty of nature, an inspiring work of art, someone you love, the comfort of home, or something else?

Embrace that memory now—breathing in the sights, sounds, and feelings.

 

Now ask yourself, "How I connect more with the level of Soul in my life?"

 

I wish you joy on the path.

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us:

 

When you feel yourself part of nature,

You will live in harmony.

                                 (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 13)

 

 

Over 25 centuries ago, during the warring states period in ancient China, Lao Tzu found peace and renewed hope by connecting with nature. Walking in the woods and breathing the fresh mountain air, he gained greater peace of mind. Nature brought him lessons of resilience, perseverance, and hope. He learned about the strength of bamboo that bends with the wind so it doesn't break. In the sparkling waters of a mountain stream, he saw how water is gentle and nurturing yet with perseverance can cut through solid rock. In the changing seasons, he discovered the cycles of yin and yang, seeing how the darkness of winter leads to the light of another spring.

 

Research has confirmed what Lao-Tzu discovered so long ago: that connecting with nature can restore our peace of mind. Studies have shown that walking in a natural setting can relieve stress, anxiety and depression,  help us gain a more positive mood, worry less often, and think more clearly.[1]

 

Connecting with nature makes a major difference in my life. After dealing with a day of stressful demands and deadlines, I find relief just stepping outside. Walking through my neighborhood with my little dog Ginny or hiking in a local park, I feel part of the greater harmony of life. I find consolation in the garden, planting seeds, watching the new plants grow, and enjoying home grown tomatoes, green beans, roses, and gardenias. And at night, gazing up at the stars, I feel a sense of awe at the beauty and grandeur of the cosmos.

 

Take a moment now to strengthen your own connection with nature.

 

• Close your eyes.
• Take a deep breath and slowly release it.
• Now recall a time in your life when you felt a deep sense of peace and renewal in nature.
• Were you looking out at the ocean, walking in the park, gardening, noticing a tree along the street, looking up at the clouds in the sky, or gazing at the stars at night? Something else?
• What is one small step you can take this week to renew your connection with the natural world?
• Keep that step in mind as you expand your awareness and open your heart to greater peace in the days ahead.  

 

 I wish you joy on the path.

 

[1] Martyn, P., & Brymer, E. (2016). The relationship between nature relatedness and anxiety. Journal of Health Psychology, 21 (7), 1436-1445; Berman, M.G., Kross, E., Krpan, K.M., Askren, M. K., Burson, A., Deldin, P. J., Kaplan, S., Sherdell, L., Gotlip, I. H., Jonides, J. (2012). Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 140, 300-305; Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R.F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E, Miles, M. A., & Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11, 201-230; Bratman, G. N. , Hamilton, J. P., & Daily, G.C. (2012). The impacts of  nature experience on human cognitive function and mental health. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1249, 118-136.

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us,

 

"The Tao person

Lives fully in every moment.

 

Hold to this timeless pattern

Throughout the time of your life,

Aware of the eternal cycles,

The essence of Tao."

                            (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 14)

 

Lately, instead of living "fully in every moment," I've been rushing from one thing to the next, feeling an underlying anxiety, a compulsive need to get things done, to clear the incessant chores from my life so I can relax and regain a sense of peace.

 

Does this sound familiar? Have you been caught up in incessant activity, an endless list of obligations that clutters your days and leaves you feeling exhausted?

 

This approach doesn't work. It's like a dog chasing its tail. We'll never find peace that way.

 

Years ago, when he came to America from India, meditation teacher Eknath Easwaran saw people frantically rushing about with what he called "the hurry sickness."[1] And he was right. Hurry puts our bodies in a stress reaction, which shuts down our immune system and our higher brain centers so we make foolish choices and can come down with a vast range of diseases and disorders.[2]

 

The hurry sickness has become a daily habit in industrialized countries. With the advent of computers, cell phones, and social media, many of us have been treating our bodies like machines.

 

We can break this destructive habit, regaining our peace of mind by making friends with time. When we find ourselves rushing, we can heal the hurry sickness by taking a slow deep breath and saying a mantram, a spiritual word or phrase that expands our perspective, reminding us that we are more than any current stressful situation.[3] Research at the San Diego, California Veterans' Center has even found mantram repetition significantly reduces painful flashbacks, bringing greater peace of mind to military veterans with PTSD.[4]

 

Do you have a spiritual word or phrase you can repeat to yourself to restore your peace of mind?

Here's one way to begin.

 

• Close your eyes.
• Take a long deep breath and slowly release it.
• As you continue to breathe slowly and deeply, think of a comforting word or phrase from your own spiritual tradition.
• Christians could repeat the name of "Jesus"
• Catholics could say "Hail Mary" or "Ave Maria"
• Jews could say "Barukh attah Adonai"
• Muslims could say "Allah, Allah"
• Buddhists could say "Om mani padme hum"
• Many people who can't relate to a specific spiritual tradition have chosen Gandhi's mantram, "Rama," which means joy[5]

Whatever mantram you choose, begin to make it yours by repeating it when you're going about your daily tasks, washing dishes, taking a walk, waiting in line, or driving to work. Then it will be there for you when you need it.

 

My friend Carolyn used to commute on the busy Nimitz freeway from Oakland to teach at Santa Clara University. Whenever she felt anxious, stuck in traffic, she would tell herself, "I am on God's time."

 

In a larger sense, we are all on God's time, in this journey of our lives.

 

I wish you peace on the journey.

 

References

[1] Easwaran, E. (2008). Passage Meditation. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press.

 
[2] Sapolsky, R. (2017). Behave. New York, NY: Penguin Press.

 
[3] Easwaran, E. (2008). Passage Meditation. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press.

 
[4] Bormann, J. E., Hurst, S., & Kelly, A. (2013). Responses to mantram repetition program from veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: A qualitative analysis. JRRD, 50, 769-784.

 
[5] Easwaran, E. (2008). Passage Meditation. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press

In the past two years, research at the National Institutes of Health has reported a dramatic increase in depression and anxiety.[1] During the Covid pandemic, millions of us have lost our sense of stability and personal security. Struggling with confusion and hopelessness, we've been searching for greater peace of mind.

 

In  my book, The Tao of Inner Peace, I write about another time of stress and upheaval, 25 centuries ago during the warring states period in ancient China, when Lao Tzu found peace of mind by connecting with nature. Now, research has shown how connecting with nature can heal us in so many ways.

 

Researchers in a Philadelphia hospital found that abdominal surgery patients with a view of trees outside their windows suffered from fewer complications, needed less pain medication, and were discharged sooner than patients with the same surgery whose rooms looked out at only bare brick walls.[2] Research has shown that connecting with nature can help relieve anxiety and depression, renewing our hope by expanding our vision beyond ourselves.[3]

 

As we become more aware of the natural world, we develop a more expansive vision of life. We see that we are a vital part of nature's growth process. We can gain greater hope by realizing that our choices can positively shape our future, creating greater peace within and around us.

 

How can you renew your hope by connecting with nature today?

 

• This can be as simple as standing up and looking out your window at the green world outside.
• Or step outside, look up at the sky, take a long, deep breath and release it. Breathe out stress. Breathe in peace.
• Spend some time in your garden or take a walk in a nearby park.
• Play with your dog or cat
• Or look up at the stars at night. As they sparkle overhead, become more aware that you're part of this magnificent cosmos we call home.

 

I invite you to take one step to reconnect with the natural world today. That step naturally leads to another for as the Tao Te Ching tells us:

 

"A tree that grows beyond your reach

Springs from a tiny seed.

A building over nine stories high

Begins with a handful of earth.

A journey of a thousand miles

Begins with a single step."

                           (Tao, chapter 64)

 

I wish you joy on the path.

 

 

[1] Recent anxiety disorders statistics from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA): http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety and the National Institute of Mental Health,  http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml. Information on depression and suicide rates in the United States from the National Institute of Mental Health, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/index.shtml

 
[2] Ulrich, R. S. et al. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224, 420-421.

 
[3] Berman, M.G., Kross, E., Krpan, K.M., Askren, M. K., Burson, A., Deldin, P. J., Kaplan, S., Sherdell, L., Gotlip, I. H., Jonides, J. (2012). Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 140, 300-305; Howell, A. J., Dopko, R. L., Passmore, H.A., & Buro, K. (2011). Nature connectedness: Associations with well-being and mindfulness. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 166-171; Martyn, P., & Brymer, E. (2016). The relationship between nature relatedness and anxiety. Journal of Health Psychology, 21 (7), 1436-1445; Ulrich, R. S.,Simons,R. F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M.A., 7 Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11, 2-10-230; Zhang, J. W., Howell, R. T., & Iyer, R. (2014). Engagement with natural beauty moderates the positive relation between connectedness with nature and psychological well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, 55-63.

.

 

The Tao Te Ching asks us:

 

"Can you go through your days

Holding fast to the Tao?

Releasing your tension

As you focus your breathing,

Can you relax like a child?

Can you clear your vision

And open yourself to life?"

                   (Tao Te Ching, chapter 10)

 

The harmony of Tao restores and renews us. Yet how rare it is to give our full attention to anything. Many of us spend our days in internal monologues of worry, anxiety, future plans, and self-criticism.

 

Positive psychology research has shown that that pausing to focus, even briefly, on the beauty of nature or the blessings in our lives can help dispel anxiety, enabling us to think more clearly, gain greater peace of mind and find greater meaning in our lives.[i] The Tao Te Ching reminds us to "release our tension" by "focusing on our breathing," to renew our energy through meditation. Research has shown that mindfulness meditation, taking slow, deep breaths can help relieve stress and restore our peace of mind.[ii]

 

There are many forms of meditation including mindfulness, walking meditation, focusing on our breathing, and reciting a mantram or a sacred text.

 

You can join me now to release tension and stress in one meditative moment:

 

• Breathe in slowly and deeply, focusing on your heart.
• Exhale slowly and deeply, releasing the tension in your body.
• As you feel your body relax, smile as you say to yourself, "I am peace."

 

You can practice this brief meditative moment in the midst of your busy days. Whenever you feel stressed, just breathe in peace, breathe out tension, and say to yourself, "I am peace."

 

I wish you joy on the path.

 

References

 

[i] Hurley, D. B., & Kwon, P. (2013). Savoring helps most when you have little: Interaction between savoring the moment and uplifts on positive affect and satisfaction with life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 1261-1271; Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrated framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169-182.

 
[ii] Shapiro, S. L. & Carlson. (2009). The art and science of mindfulness. Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association;Vago, D. R. & Silbersweig, D. A. (2012). Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-Art): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 1-30.